Daryl smoking round the BSEC course on his Crescent KTM...so quick I thought it was sped up, but it's not...
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Friday, 10 February 2012
BSEC Paddock Walk 10/02/12
I rocked up in the paddock of the BSEC today to sign in for the racing this weekend. Little bit of video below shows who turned up early. Knighter and Sagar were there already, no sign of Taddy yet, but it looked like there were some Polish fans in attendance...
Monday, 6 February 2012
Fast Eddy Enduro-X
Enduro X - Fast Eddy 29th January
Enduro X video by 1144DRC
Buoyed by my previous 'mini' race experience I spotted an interesting event being organised by Fast Eddy Racing (Paul Edmondson, UK enduro OG). The event was Enduro X and it was intended to test a midlands venue in anticipation of running the final round of the British Extreme Enduro Championship. Running the event allowed Paul and his team the opportunity to test organisational type stuff like car parking, track access and race turnaround time, while giving the opportunity for budding racers to bounce off the floor using their heads for cushions and flip their bikes onto other people...(or maybe that was just me).
The race was run in what is now known as CMX motoparc, formerly Wildmoor Quarry. Just off the M5 it was easy to get to, despite a couple of attempts at finding the quarry as some comedy genius had put luminous green signs with 'MX' written on, pointing away from the circuit. I arrived about 5 minutes after registration had finished, but was greeted with a no hassle attitude. I signed in, to cheery faces despite the cold, literally, in seconds. I was furnished with a transponder for the princely sum of my ACU licence as deposit and then toddled off to pull the 150 out of the van and try not to look at all the 'proper' racers. As I walked back to the van (parking it turned out was not the venue's strong point) I had a look at the track. The pit area was perched at the top of the quarry giving a birds eye view of the circuit.
The Enduro X circuit was literally Enduro with MX.
Steep declines and inclines built on a sand base, mixed in with some MX jumps, a railway sleeper section and some tyres to hop over with technical rutted areas, made for an interesting looking layout (see video at end of post). The format for the day was one timed practice/qualifying session followed by 4 15 min races for each class.
By the time I'd got back to the trusty van, 9.30 had rolled around and it was time to go qualify.
Sitting in the holding pen waiting for my session, I had the feeling that I wasn't quite ready for this.
I was in no way confident about turning in a fast lap, but thought i'd be able to get by on a mix of riding experience and 'having a goability'..
Watching the tail end of the Pro and Expert qualifying session it looked like the pilots were making short work of the course. Tom Sagar and Danny McCanney (who won all 4 pro races on the day, after Sagar was sidelined with an injury jumping a full bore table top).
were ripping up the place in fine style. The higher ability level classes seem to make it easier for themselves by flowing through the obstacles
and avoiding the stuttering indecision that I'm cursed with at present. When in doubt flat out and all that. With this in mind I vow to flow round, smooth stylee and go flat out if I'm scared.
In fact as it comes to my turn to 'flow' what I actually do is get arm pump the likes of which man has never seen before and bumble my way around.
I don't turn in one clean lap and end up qualifying one from last on a 3.01. At least I wasn't last!. To put this in perspective, McCanney popped in a 1.46 during his first race.
All in all, a stunningly crap way to qualify...but it gives ALOT of room for some progression through the day.
I learnt a few things after practice, answering some of the questions I posed myself after the holeshot hot lap event:
You can practice on half worn tyres.
I need a much, much higher level of fitness. Immediate arm pump is not a good way to start the day. Next time I race I WILL warm up before getting on the circuit.
Racing in January is cold (see above).
Going racing on your own is more boring than I thought!
Sportsmen are faster than I realised.
How good am I? Not very!
How good is everyone else? Better than me...for now at least.
Practice is a good wake up call, I thought I'd be OK, but I'm far from OK. I'm stiff on the bike, uncomfortable and nervous.
I looped the bike onto someone elses head. Not cool...they carry on like I asked them the time, not dropped 100kg on their swede.
I make myself a goals of completing the races and going faster through out the day with the aim of getting under 2.30 for a lap.
Waiting for race time, it was cold and foggy (a new breed of midlands fog called 'fog-ice' composed of icy fog) and I was getting ready to deploy the crying baby and flip open the book of 'Britain's Best Racing Excuses, Vol.2.'
When you're waiting on the line it's an odd place to be for the first time, a lot of aggression is required to blast into the first turn like you mean it. It's a great part of the race and I start looking forward to getting going as engines start bouncing off rev limiters.
Race 1: The race got underway in a cloud of unburnt 2 stroke oil and went better than practice. The course was more cut up than during the first session, but I felt a little more comfortable on the bike. I got stuck on one of the hills near the start and lost a lot of time.
Once I got going again things started to smooth out a bit. I tried not to death grip the bars and managed to relax a little.
It still wasn't good, but it was better.
My body positioning was poor and I couldn't work out why. I felt really tired and struggled to look up, where I wanted to go. All keep techniques that help you to go faster with less effort.
I also found I was being far too polite, waiting for people when they are stuck, letting people through, it's supposed to be a race, not a tea party! I ask for 'Milk with one please' as someone crashes past me.
All told, race one is pretty uneventful. I found that I could get through the small tyre section OK and enjoyed trying to rail through some of the turns,
but the ruts were causing me some problems. This will go on my list of things to work on.
Another area requiring immediate work is 'race face'. It's very difficult to switch straight on to race mode, I remember this problem from circuit racing. Coming from a few years of trackdays it takes a little while to get conditioned out of taking it easy and warming yourself up for a few laps. But this is the idea. To find these things out. I didn't feel particularly out of my depth as I hadn't seen anyone else really. I finished 11th and a couple of laps down on the winner, with my best lap a 2.12. A big improvement on practice, but still a way off the quicker sportsmen who are dipping under 2 minutes.
I hoped that in race 2 some fast would rub off on me and I'd be able to actually race with someone to drag the times down. From race 1 experience, the track didn't seem to be lending itself to racing very well as the deep sand had created some single line sections.
Between race one and two I cut the sleeves of my body armour to see if it helped to ease the chicken choking arm pump I was suffering.
In doing so I got really cold as it was close to minus a lot centigrade. Note for future: try to stay warm!
From race 1 I observed the bike was working OK, it seemed to be stalling a lot, but I needed to be wringing it's neck. That wasn't happening.
The sand was tricky to ride. Like deep wet mud with a much more vague feeling. Despite the lack of feel I found there were some nice corners cutting in with solid berms.
As I'm writing this I recall some advice I was given about lowering the rear of the bike and raising the forks in the yokes while riding sand to stop the front wheel digging in so easily. I'll be trying this out next time!
Race 2: I set off on the front row of the grid and get into the first nadgery rut in about 6th, from here I go backwards to tenth.
On the way I get my goggles run over. I had them on the back of my helmet because they'd steamed up, they flicked off and became my first racing casualty (after Sagar's
sore behind from seat dropping the biggest tabletop on the course).
The cut sleeves on my body armour seemed to help the arm pump issue quite a bit. It's difficult to tell, as once you have done a bit of riding under your belt for the day
the blood starts flowing and you don't seem to suffer as badly.
I had an enjoyable race, managing to slide past a couple of guys on a fast section that approached the small tyre hops. Goals were clicking off OK. In race one I turned in a best lap of 2.12, under my 2.30 goal. In hindsight this was probably a bit slow for a 'goal'! Race two I nipped a 2.03 putting the 2.30 to bed. Ideally I'd have liked to go under two minutes which would have put me in the mix. but that wasn't to be.
Race 3: I got away OK again. People were jumping the start. Eddy told everyone to wait until the flag drops before dropping clutches, but people were
off as soon as it was raised. It wasn't a problem for me as I wasn't going to win one on the day (or anytime soon) but it would've been nice to get in the mix for a holeshot!
So race three is ticking away. I'm riding smoother and managing to get through the ruts better than the previous outings.
I came up behind a slower rider on the table top, hit the gas in a fit of Carmichael aping foolery and head planted into the ground. Bugger. The bars and front wheel were pointing in
opposite directions and the guys I had previously passed came back by me as I flopped about in the mud hoping the tweety birds would go away.
I said a few words to myself that Grandparents shouldn't hear, whacked the bars close to straight, fired up the KTM and put some more laps in. Surprisingly I felt pretty good,
carrying some OK corner speed until Jack Edmondson came past me like the true beginner I am (I'm not sure how old he is, but I'd guess between 10 and 15, nearly sucking the graphics off my bike as he blitzed by...).
Lots more gears and brakes later and I was back in the pits. I go to check the results and find I'm tenth again with a slower lap than last time round 2.06. Considering the
whack on the head I'm not too disappointed. I broke out my emergency can of generic energy drink for race 4...
Race 4: Ready to right the wrongs of the previous attempts, I necked some of the energy speed juice (Rossi said it works so it must be true) and cruised down to the holding area.
With no throttle applied and the bike pinging off the limiter, I thought something might be a miss. Adding some slack to the throttle seemed to help and the bike briefly idled normally.
Waiting for the start I wasn't sure if it was a great idea to race with a sticking throttle, but I was already there and one of the marshalls gave me a reassuring 'it'll be alright' nod.
As I piled into the first turn on full gas, which was meant to be no gas, I thought I should have listened to myself. The KTM pinged its head off to a suitable resting place through the tapes.
DNF! Balls. That was my shot at getting it right. Race 3 had been pretty positive, despite the whack on the head, the track conditions were getting better through the day and I ended up getting sidelined by a sticky throttle.
Investigation is required in a hurry as the following weekend was to be the Fast Eddy XC at Stoneleigh where I'd try and put some of the lessons into practice.
Results were posted up on Enduronews.com the following day. To my surprise I was 7th overall. 11th in the first race, 10th in the second race, 10th in the third race (with head plant), 4th race DNF, but points for starting (bonus!). There was a reasonable attrition rate as a few people didn't complete all the races on the day (including me).
Some people only completed one race, others dropped out after two.
So with my first full meeting behind me I'm excited to get out again at the Fast Eddy XC for my first taste of that competition.
I'm anticipating it to be significantly different to the Enduro X, with a different type of terrain and a different mindset required
to ride for 2 hours turning in the laps, instead of a 15 min (relative) dash.
Below are some notes I made through the day. A learning brain dump that I'll try to digest before the next outing:
More positive throttle application required. More gas all the time. I need someone to compete against...
Feels frantic.
Downhill off camber corners? Where is your technique. Weight pegs, weight in the correct position.
Tricky downhills into ruts, look up, out of rut, not into it! Stand up, strong and forward.
Jump off bike, push and clutch to get going when stuck on sand hills.
Fitness is super critical!!!!! Cardio required. Any trainers available for this?
Enduroland is not real racing...
Arm pump is the main problem, aggression, put the bike where you want it to go, look where you want it to go.
A few notes on going racing with Fast Eddy
My first experience of racing with Fast Eddy was about as painless (in terms of organisation) as I could wish for.
I emailed Mandie Edmondson to enter the race and was given my race numbers. Any information I asked for was responded
to within 24 hours. It's possible to call as well.
On race day I arrived just outside the prescribed time for rider registration but there was no fuss. I was able to sign in
and receive my transponder (just my ACU licence for a deposit) within about 5 minutes.
All the races were announced by loudhailer, plus the current race category was shown on the live timing screen so
it was straightforward to work out when my next race was. Races were turned around super fast with minimal waiting around
and Fast Ed himself even helped me out when my throttle stuck open. A big double thumbs up to the Fast Eddy crew.
Enduro X video by 1144DRC
Buoyed by my previous 'mini' race experience I spotted an interesting event being organised by Fast Eddy Racing (Paul Edmondson, UK enduro OG). The event was Enduro X and it was intended to test a midlands venue in anticipation of running the final round of the British Extreme Enduro Championship. Running the event allowed Paul and his team the opportunity to test organisational type stuff like car parking, track access and race turnaround time, while giving the opportunity for budding racers to bounce off the floor using their heads for cushions and flip their bikes onto other people...(or maybe that was just me).
The race was run in what is now known as CMX motoparc, formerly Wildmoor Quarry. Just off the M5 it was easy to get to, despite a couple of attempts at finding the quarry as some comedy genius had put luminous green signs with 'MX' written on, pointing away from the circuit. I arrived about 5 minutes after registration had finished, but was greeted with a no hassle attitude. I signed in, to cheery faces despite the cold, literally, in seconds. I was furnished with a transponder for the princely sum of my ACU licence as deposit and then toddled off to pull the 150 out of the van and try not to look at all the 'proper' racers. As I walked back to the van (parking it turned out was not the venue's strong point) I had a look at the track. The pit area was perched at the top of the quarry giving a birds eye view of the circuit.
The Enduro X circuit was literally Enduro with MX.
Steep declines and inclines built on a sand base, mixed in with some MX jumps, a railway sleeper section and some tyres to hop over with technical rutted areas, made for an interesting looking layout (see video at end of post). The format for the day was one timed practice/qualifying session followed by 4 15 min races for each class.
By the time I'd got back to the trusty van, 9.30 had rolled around and it was time to go qualify.
Sitting in the holding pen waiting for my session, I had the feeling that I wasn't quite ready for this.
I was in no way confident about turning in a fast lap, but thought i'd be able to get by on a mix of riding experience and 'having a goability'..
Watching the tail end of the Pro and Expert qualifying session it looked like the pilots were making short work of the course. Tom Sagar and Danny McCanney (who won all 4 pro races on the day, after Sagar was sidelined with an injury jumping a full bore table top).
were ripping up the place in fine style. The higher ability level classes seem to make it easier for themselves by flowing through the obstacles
and avoiding the stuttering indecision that I'm cursed with at present. When in doubt flat out and all that. With this in mind I vow to flow round, smooth stylee and go flat out if I'm scared.
In fact as it comes to my turn to 'flow' what I actually do is get arm pump the likes of which man has never seen before and bumble my way around.
I don't turn in one clean lap and end up qualifying one from last on a 3.01. At least I wasn't last!. To put this in perspective, McCanney popped in a 1.46 during his first race.
All in all, a stunningly crap way to qualify...but it gives ALOT of room for some progression through the day.
I learnt a few things after practice, answering some of the questions I posed myself after the holeshot hot lap event:
You can practice on half worn tyres.
I need a much, much higher level of fitness. Immediate arm pump is not a good way to start the day. Next time I race I WILL warm up before getting on the circuit.
Racing in January is cold (see above).
Going racing on your own is more boring than I thought!
Sportsmen are faster than I realised.
How good am I? Not very!
How good is everyone else? Better than me...for now at least.
Practice is a good wake up call, I thought I'd be OK, but I'm far from OK. I'm stiff on the bike, uncomfortable and nervous.
I looped the bike onto someone elses head. Not cool...they carry on like I asked them the time, not dropped 100kg on their swede.
I make myself a goals of completing the races and going faster through out the day with the aim of getting under 2.30 for a lap.
Waiting for race time, it was cold and foggy (a new breed of midlands fog called 'fog-ice' composed of icy fog) and I was getting ready to deploy the crying baby and flip open the book of 'Britain's Best Racing Excuses, Vol.2.'
When you're waiting on the line it's an odd place to be for the first time, a lot of aggression is required to blast into the first turn like you mean it. It's a great part of the race and I start looking forward to getting going as engines start bouncing off rev limiters.
Race 1: The race got underway in a cloud of unburnt 2 stroke oil and went better than practice. The course was more cut up than during the first session, but I felt a little more comfortable on the bike. I got stuck on one of the hills near the start and lost a lot of time.
Once I got going again things started to smooth out a bit. I tried not to death grip the bars and managed to relax a little.
It still wasn't good, but it was better.
My body positioning was poor and I couldn't work out why. I felt really tired and struggled to look up, where I wanted to go. All keep techniques that help you to go faster with less effort.
I also found I was being far too polite, waiting for people when they are stuck, letting people through, it's supposed to be a race, not a tea party! I ask for 'Milk with one please' as someone crashes past me.
All told, race one is pretty uneventful. I found that I could get through the small tyre section OK and enjoyed trying to rail through some of the turns,
but the ruts were causing me some problems. This will go on my list of things to work on.
Another area requiring immediate work is 'race face'. It's very difficult to switch straight on to race mode, I remember this problem from circuit racing. Coming from a few years of trackdays it takes a little while to get conditioned out of taking it easy and warming yourself up for a few laps. But this is the idea. To find these things out. I didn't feel particularly out of my depth as I hadn't seen anyone else really. I finished 11th and a couple of laps down on the winner, with my best lap a 2.12. A big improvement on practice, but still a way off the quicker sportsmen who are dipping under 2 minutes.
I hoped that in race 2 some fast would rub off on me and I'd be able to actually race with someone to drag the times down. From race 1 experience, the track didn't seem to be lending itself to racing very well as the deep sand had created some single line sections.
Between race one and two I cut the sleeves of my body armour to see if it helped to ease the chicken choking arm pump I was suffering.
In doing so I got really cold as it was close to minus a lot centigrade. Note for future: try to stay warm!
From race 1 I observed the bike was working OK, it seemed to be stalling a lot, but I needed to be wringing it's neck. That wasn't happening.
The sand was tricky to ride. Like deep wet mud with a much more vague feeling. Despite the lack of feel I found there were some nice corners cutting in with solid berms.
As I'm writing this I recall some advice I was given about lowering the rear of the bike and raising the forks in the yokes while riding sand to stop the front wheel digging in so easily. I'll be trying this out next time!
Race 2: I set off on the front row of the grid and get into the first nadgery rut in about 6th, from here I go backwards to tenth.
On the way I get my goggles run over. I had them on the back of my helmet because they'd steamed up, they flicked off and became my first racing casualty (after Sagar's
sore behind from seat dropping the biggest tabletop on the course).
The cut sleeves on my body armour seemed to help the arm pump issue quite a bit. It's difficult to tell, as once you have done a bit of riding under your belt for the day
the blood starts flowing and you don't seem to suffer as badly.
I had an enjoyable race, managing to slide past a couple of guys on a fast section that approached the small tyre hops. Goals were clicking off OK. In race one I turned in a best lap of 2.12, under my 2.30 goal. In hindsight this was probably a bit slow for a 'goal'! Race two I nipped a 2.03 putting the 2.30 to bed. Ideally I'd have liked to go under two minutes which would have put me in the mix. but that wasn't to be.
Race 3: I got away OK again. People were jumping the start. Eddy told everyone to wait until the flag drops before dropping clutches, but people were
off as soon as it was raised. It wasn't a problem for me as I wasn't going to win one on the day (or anytime soon) but it would've been nice to get in the mix for a holeshot!
So race three is ticking away. I'm riding smoother and managing to get through the ruts better than the previous outings.
I came up behind a slower rider on the table top, hit the gas in a fit of Carmichael aping foolery and head planted into the ground. Bugger. The bars and front wheel were pointing in
opposite directions and the guys I had previously passed came back by me as I flopped about in the mud hoping the tweety birds would go away.
I said a few words to myself that Grandparents shouldn't hear, whacked the bars close to straight, fired up the KTM and put some more laps in. Surprisingly I felt pretty good,
carrying some OK corner speed until Jack Edmondson came past me like the true beginner I am (I'm not sure how old he is, but I'd guess between 10 and 15, nearly sucking the graphics off my bike as he blitzed by...).
Lots more gears and brakes later and I was back in the pits. I go to check the results and find I'm tenth again with a slower lap than last time round 2.06. Considering the
whack on the head I'm not too disappointed. I broke out my emergency can of generic energy drink for race 4...
Race 4: Ready to right the wrongs of the previous attempts, I necked some of the energy speed juice (Rossi said it works so it must be true) and cruised down to the holding area.
With no throttle applied and the bike pinging off the limiter, I thought something might be a miss. Adding some slack to the throttle seemed to help and the bike briefly idled normally.
Waiting for the start I wasn't sure if it was a great idea to race with a sticking throttle, but I was already there and one of the marshalls gave me a reassuring 'it'll be alright' nod.
As I piled into the first turn on full gas, which was meant to be no gas, I thought I should have listened to myself. The KTM pinged its head off to a suitable resting place through the tapes.
DNF! Balls. That was my shot at getting it right. Race 3 had been pretty positive, despite the whack on the head, the track conditions were getting better through the day and I ended up getting sidelined by a sticky throttle.
Investigation is required in a hurry as the following weekend was to be the Fast Eddy XC at Stoneleigh where I'd try and put some of the lessons into practice.
Results were posted up on Enduronews.com the following day. To my surprise I was 7th overall. 11th in the first race, 10th in the second race, 10th in the third race (with head plant), 4th race DNF, but points for starting (bonus!). There was a reasonable attrition rate as a few people didn't complete all the races on the day (including me).
Some people only completed one race, others dropped out after two.
So with my first full meeting behind me I'm excited to get out again at the Fast Eddy XC for my first taste of that competition.
I'm anticipating it to be significantly different to the Enduro X, with a different type of terrain and a different mindset required
to ride for 2 hours turning in the laps, instead of a 15 min (relative) dash.
Below are some notes I made through the day. A learning brain dump that I'll try to digest before the next outing:
More positive throttle application required. More gas all the time. I need someone to compete against...
Feels frantic.
Downhill off camber corners? Where is your technique. Weight pegs, weight in the correct position.
Tricky downhills into ruts, look up, out of rut, not into it! Stand up, strong and forward.
Jump off bike, push and clutch to get going when stuck on sand hills.
Fitness is super critical!!!!! Cardio required. Any trainers available for this?
Enduroland is not real racing...
Arm pump is the main problem, aggression, put the bike where you want it to go, look where you want it to go.
A few notes on going racing with Fast Eddy
My first experience of racing with Fast Eddy was about as painless (in terms of organisation) as I could wish for.
I emailed Mandie Edmondson to enter the race and was given my race numbers. Any information I asked for was responded
to within 24 hours. It's possible to call as well.
On race day I arrived just outside the prescribed time for rider registration but there was no fuss. I was able to sign in
and receive my transponder (just my ACU licence for a deposit) within about 5 minutes.
All the races were announced by loudhailer, plus the current race category was shown on the live timing screen so
it was straightforward to work out when my next race was. Races were turned around super fast with minimal waiting around
and Fast Ed himself even helped me out when my throttle stuck open. A big double thumbs up to the Fast Eddy crew.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Into the fire...let's go racing
To be fair, fire is a little strong. It was more of a smouldering ember, but none the less, it came to pass, my first foray into off road
racing. For the past 18 months I have been thoroughly enjoying riding enduro bikes with like minded dirtbike fiends with only a hint of friendly rivalry sprinkled in the mix. However, due to a previous life of intermittent UK supersport club racing (600cc road bikes) and a general affinity for competition, it was always in the back of my mind that at some point I would take dirt bike play and turn it into a slightly more serious affair.
This was kicked into action at the slightly unexpected venue of an Enduroland event nestled above the M25 at Northaw, near Potters Bar. A significant number of Enduroista were in attendance so I imagine some of you reading this would have been as intrigued as I, when you saw the words 'Holeshot Hot Lap Race' in amongst the events regulation info.
The concept was simple. As many riders as possible were gathered for a sighting lap of, what is normally, a point to point horse racing course to 'cut in' the course.The venue provided a super fast circuit with a mix of flowing corners and some stop and go hair pins, plus a grip laden semi-wooded section and some ditch jumps thrown in for good measure. Lap times were around the 8min region. Following the sighting lap was the opportunity to race a one lap sprint for £50. Everyone could check out the course at the same time, then race it out next lap round..
A cavalcade of riders set off to scope out the course and it reminded me somewhat of a road bike track day. There were some nerves, even at this stage, but you could see who ranked themselves as contenders for the hot lap crown as riders jostled to get near the front, check out some lines and understand the various obstacles.
I can admit to getting a little swept up in this and was soon nudging my way through the pack to get a look at the fast(er) boys and mark my intent to get in the mix. As we rode the course though, it was apparent that the ground was frozen solid. As each corner rolled by and acceleration was replaced by frantic wheelspin and tyres scrabbling for grip,I started to think that the going wasn't in great condition to race on. I plugged on, taking in the obstacles, with the words of the clerk of the course in the front of my mind, 'No easy routes are open, make sure you know where the obstacles are'.
A couple of guys got stuck in a ditch on the way round, the marshalls were helping them out, so I took the slightly more scenic easy route and tagged on the back of about 5 riders behind the quad mounted path finder.
Cruising up the final hill on the back of the group, I'm not sure about this at all. The course looks fun but is hyper-slippery in a jellied eel sort of fashion and I'm not sure I can remember the course, plus I don...then a chequered flag wielding guy shouts 'are you racing!!!?' Damn straight I'm racing, let's have it.
Staying calm on the start line is difficult when you have a hyperactive, CRF250R mounted, 14 year old loonbag revving his bike until it boils over. I tell him it's a dead engine start and he makes a face like someone jumped on his Wii-Box. Apparently they don't start so well when they're boiling hot...
So, I'm in amongst it. Lined up with a full on tape start with approx 30 riders, I have a glance around a see a range of machines. The start straight is pretty long, so I'm not hopeful about getting the little KTM 150XC I'm sporting into the first corner near the front. With this on my mind the start sequence begins. Fortunately this just involves not staring at a rotating duo of pit girls holding boards in hot pants and waiting for the flag to drop. I muster up my best race face (a bit like a mad face but faster) and wait for the flag....
Flag drops, KTM fires on it's first kick, whack it into first, fistful of throttle and a binary clutch
dump sees me away in to the first corner in sixth. I'm enjoying this already. Everyone is battling for traction, the 150 hooks up out of the second corner and I pip another rider into a tricky off camber left. Unfortunately a few of the guys put some extra effort into their race faces so a little gap opened between me in 5th and the leading four. Until the frozen ground bit back. Their enthusiasm earns two of them an epic double pirouette at a 90 degree right and I'm up to 3rd. They'd score high at dancing on ice though..
I cook up all the race beans I can muster to hang on to my position through some fast sweeping bends. The chase is on so I pin the 150 and try to keep some semblance of tidy technique. The gap to the leading pair stretched out at about halfway into the lap, then the frozen sighting ride comes back to bite me.
On full gas autopilot, I overshoot one of the hard route ditch jumps and have to take a meandering easy route to rejoin the track. This costs me about 5 places. I take some positions back with a couple of cheeky moves but come unstuck through a tight wood section, lacking the cojones to be super aggressive and force my way past a slower rider (it was only supposed to be for fun after all). I finally sneak past on the brakes into a tight hairpin and run full bore into the section of course comprised of ditch jumps in about 8th.
Cracking open my novice racers book of excuses (racer in the making edition) I found a page that reads 'the bulk of my riding has been in the Catalunyan Mountains surrounding Barcelona, this prepared me for rocky climbs and techy descents well, but slippery, sharp faced UK ditches were conspicuous by their absence' I'll use that.
I saw a guy jump the ditch on the sighting lap, so I unload full gas on the 150 with a sniff of clutch and pop over the ditch. All is good until I land, see how close I am to the approaching
hairpin, grab a monster paw of brake, tuck the front on the frozen floor and washout into the course tape. With race adrenaline engaged the bike is upright in a couple of nanoseconds, left hand guard and clutch lever take a bit longer to whack into position, then we're off again. I guess everyone else had been practicing ditch hopping as this little escapade pushed me back to 13th. I take another couple of places on the fast corners approaching the end of the lap and finish off 11th. Elated to have 'raced' and survived, annoyed about my mistakes, and shocked that I had so much fun in a one lap blast round a horse racing track.
The general consensus for the day was that the Enduroland 'Holeshot Hot Lap Race' is a cool concept, well delivered. It was a success so I imagine it will be coming to an Enduroland event near you. Give it a shot if you want a little feel of what it's like to race, but without the pressure of big events.
The experience answered a few questions for me:
Do I want to compete in some more serious events? Yes, for sure.
Is offroad racing going to provide as much fun as circuit racing? From this snippet, I think so, but I kind of expected that. All the adrenaline with a fraction of the cost.
Can I expect to do OK? The level of competition wasn't as high as what I'd imagine you'd find at a Fast Eddy or WOR event, but I found some race attitude (need some more) and kept pushing after my mistakes. I can only improve from here. Results will tell the rest.
Is a mass start like being in a mechanical beehive? Yes...in a washing machine of adrenaline.
Do people get a bit loose in 'race' conditions and think they have never ending grip despite riding on ice? Yes, this is a scientific phenomenon known to racers as 'redus mistius', I have met this character before, no doubt he will show up again.
Am I going to be the next David Knight/Taddy Blazusiak? Signs point directly to 'no', but that doesn't stop it being great fun and allowing me to learn and improve as a rider.
Some others have arisen following the acceptance of the racing challenge:
What's the best club to race with?
What class do I enter?
Which events are the most fun?
Am I fit enough?
How much does this all cost?
Exactly how good are the other riders?
Exactly how good am I?
Is my kit good enough?
Well, I'm going to find out one way or another this season. I'll put my money where my mouth is and find out the answers.
So now the decision is made, what will I do?
At the moment there's a such a wide range of easily accessible events going on you could be out each weekend if you wanted to. This is fortunate as I need as much practice as I can get, but also makes for varied experiences. In the spirit of this I will be trying my hand at Enduro-X with Fast Eddy at Wildmoor Quarry, Junction 4 of the M5 motorway near Bromsgrove. I have applied for my ACU license online, I need a day licence for Fast Eddys and then I'm good to go.
As part of the blog I will be detailing my training and practice sessions, hopefully I'll be able to track improvements and make some progress. I'll need it as the, not significantly less short term goal, is to compete in the British Sprint Enduro Championship this years (from great pressure diamonds are made, or something like that...) So if anyone knows where I can buy some luck, let me know. I'll be in the garage, I need to get the bike ready...
Thanks to Dave Burton photography for standing in the cold all day taking pictures of the riders!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveburtonphotography/
www.enduroland.co.uk
To be fair, fire is a little strong. It was more of a smouldering ember, but none the less, it came to pass, my first foray into off road
racing. For the past 18 months I have been thoroughly enjoying riding enduro bikes with like minded dirtbike fiends with only a hint of friendly rivalry sprinkled in the mix. However, due to a previous life of intermittent UK supersport club racing (600cc road bikes) and a general affinity for competition, it was always in the back of my mind that at some point I would take dirt bike play and turn it into a slightly more serious affair.This was kicked into action at the slightly unexpected venue of an Enduroland event nestled above the M25 at Northaw, near Potters Bar. A significant number of Enduroista were in attendance so I imagine some of you reading this would have been as intrigued as I, when you saw the words 'Holeshot Hot Lap Race' in amongst the events regulation info.
The concept was simple. As many riders as possible were gathered for a sighting lap of, what is normally, a point to point horse racing course to 'cut in' the course.The venue provided a super fast circuit with a mix of flowing corners and some stop and go hair pins, plus a grip laden semi-wooded section and some ditch jumps thrown in for good measure. Lap times were around the 8min region. Following the sighting lap was the opportunity to race a one lap sprint for £50. Everyone could check out the course at the same time, then race it out next lap round..
A cavalcade of riders set off to scope out the course and it reminded me somewhat of a road bike track day. There were some nerves, even at this stage, but you could see who ranked themselves as contenders for the hot lap crown as riders jostled to get near the front, check out some lines and understand the various obstacles.
I can admit to getting a little swept up in this and was soon nudging my way through the pack to get a look at the fast(er) boys and mark my intent to get in the mix. As we rode the course though, it was apparent that the ground was frozen solid. As each corner rolled by and acceleration was replaced by frantic wheelspin and tyres scrabbling for grip,I started to think that the going wasn't in great condition to race on. I plugged on, taking in the obstacles, with the words of the clerk of the course in the front of my mind, 'No easy routes are open, make sure you know where the obstacles are'.
A couple of guys got stuck in a ditch on the way round, the marshalls were helping them out, so I took the slightly more scenic easy route and tagged on the back of about 5 riders behind the quad mounted path finder.
Cruising up the final hill on the back of the group, I'm not sure about this at all. The course looks fun but is hyper-slippery in a jellied eel sort of fashion and I'm not sure I can remember the course, plus I don...then a chequered flag wielding guy shouts 'are you racing!!!?' Damn straight I'm racing, let's have it.
Staying calm on the start line is difficult when you have a hyperactive, CRF250R mounted, 14 year old loonbag revving his bike until it boils over. I tell him it's a dead engine start and he makes a face like someone jumped on his Wii-Box. Apparently they don't start so well when they're boiling hot...
So, I'm in amongst it. Lined up with a full on tape start with approx 30 riders, I have a glance around a see a range of machines. The start straight is pretty long, so I'm not hopeful about getting the little KTM 150XC I'm sporting into the first corner near the front. With this on my mind the start sequence begins. Fortunately this just involves not staring at a rotating duo of pit girls holding boards in hot pants and waiting for the flag to drop. I muster up my best race face (a bit like a mad face but faster) and wait for the flag....
Flag drops, KTM fires on it's first kick, whack it into first, fistful of throttle and a binary clutch
dump sees me away in to the first corner in sixth. I'm enjoying this already. Everyone is battling for traction, the 150 hooks up out of the second corner and I pip another rider into a tricky off camber left. Unfortunately a few of the guys put some extra effort into their race faces so a little gap opened between me in 5th and the leading four. Until the frozen ground bit back. Their enthusiasm earns two of them an epic double pirouette at a 90 degree right and I'm up to 3rd. They'd score high at dancing on ice though..I cook up all the race beans I can muster to hang on to my position through some fast sweeping bends. The chase is on so I pin the 150 and try to keep some semblance of tidy technique. The gap to the leading pair stretched out at about halfway into the lap, then the frozen sighting ride comes back to bite me.
On full gas autopilot, I overshoot one of the hard route ditch jumps and have to take a meandering easy route to rejoin the track. This costs me about 5 places. I take some positions back with a couple of cheeky moves but come unstuck through a tight wood section, lacking the cojones to be super aggressive and force my way past a slower rider (it was only supposed to be for fun after all). I finally sneak past on the brakes into a tight hairpin and run full bore into the section of course comprised of ditch jumps in about 8th.
Cracking open my novice racers book of excuses (racer in the making edition) I found a page that reads 'the bulk of my riding has been in the Catalunyan Mountains surrounding Barcelona, this prepared me for rocky climbs and techy descents well, but slippery, sharp faced UK ditches were conspicuous by their absence' I'll use that.
I saw a guy jump the ditch on the sighting lap, so I unload full gas on the 150 with a sniff of clutch and pop over the ditch. All is good until I land, see how close I am to the approaching
hairpin, grab a monster paw of brake, tuck the front on the frozen floor and washout into the course tape. With race adrenaline engaged the bike is upright in a couple of nanoseconds, left hand guard and clutch lever take a bit longer to whack into position, then we're off again. I guess everyone else had been practicing ditch hopping as this little escapade pushed me back to 13th. I take another couple of places on the fast corners approaching the end of the lap and finish off 11th. Elated to have 'raced' and survived, annoyed about my mistakes, and shocked that I had so much fun in a one lap blast round a horse racing track.The general consensus for the day was that the Enduroland 'Holeshot Hot Lap Race' is a cool concept, well delivered. It was a success so I imagine it will be coming to an Enduroland event near you. Give it a shot if you want a little feel of what it's like to race, but without the pressure of big events.
The experience answered a few questions for me:
Do I want to compete in some more serious events? Yes, for sure.
Is offroad racing going to provide as much fun as circuit racing? From this snippet, I think so, but I kind of expected that. All the adrenaline with a fraction of the cost.
Can I expect to do OK? The level of competition wasn't as high as what I'd imagine you'd find at a Fast Eddy or WOR event, but I found some race attitude (need some more) and kept pushing after my mistakes. I can only improve from here. Results will tell the rest.
Is a mass start like being in a mechanical beehive? Yes...in a washing machine of adrenaline.
Do people get a bit loose in 'race' conditions and think they have never ending grip despite riding on ice? Yes, this is a scientific phenomenon known to racers as 'redus mistius', I have met this character before, no doubt he will show up again.
Am I going to be the next David Knight/Taddy Blazusiak? Signs point directly to 'no', but that doesn't stop it being great fun and allowing me to learn and improve as a rider.
Some others have arisen following the acceptance of the racing challenge:
What's the best club to race with?
What class do I enter?
Which events are the most fun?
Am I fit enough?
How much does this all cost?
Exactly how good are the other riders?
Exactly how good am I?
Is my kit good enough?
Well, I'm going to find out one way or another this season. I'll put my money where my mouth is and find out the answers.
So now the decision is made, what will I do?
At the moment there's a such a wide range of easily accessible events going on you could be out each weekend if you wanted to. This is fortunate as I need as much practice as I can get, but also makes for varied experiences. In the spirit of this I will be trying my hand at Enduro-X with Fast Eddy at Wildmoor Quarry, Junction 4 of the M5 motorway near Bromsgrove. I have applied for my ACU license online, I need a day licence for Fast Eddys and then I'm good to go.
As part of the blog I will be detailing my training and practice sessions, hopefully I'll be able to track improvements and make some progress. I'll need it as the, not significantly less short term goal, is to compete in the British Sprint Enduro Championship this years (from great pressure diamonds are made, or something like that...) So if anyone knows where I can buy some luck, let me know. I'll be in the garage, I need to get the bike ready...
Thanks to Dave Burton photography for standing in the cold all day taking pictures of the riders!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveburtonphotography/
www.enduroland.co.uk
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
2012 Gas Gas Enduro Test Day
First Ride: 2012 Gas Gas Evolution Series, EC250 and 300
Intro
Saturday the 3rd of December, not a significant date for most but I had been slowly turning blue with baited breath waiting for it since early July.
During a recent stint in Spain, I was introduced to the world’s second most premier red and white brand, Gas Gas. So taken was I, that during my trip I was fortunate enough to become the owner of a lightly modified 2011 EC250 Racing and immediately became a fan of the non-orange nature of the beast. With a dual power map switch available as standard and a forgiving chassis shod with factory Marzocchi forks and an Ohlins 888 shock, the 2011 bike flattered and spoiled me in equal measures, while effectively offering two bikes in one (wet map for tricky trials type terrain and dry for ripping mx and trail to shreds). With a move back to the UK scheduled, I reluctantly left the GeeGee with the Leon brothers of Gas Gas dealer Sixlyon, Barcelona, took a deep breath of her two stroke scented FMF stealth pipe and jumped on a plane, left only with the promise of blasting her up a Catalunyan rock face in the not too distant future. With that memory fading, I was very keen to ride the heavily revised 2012 GasGas enduro models to rekindle my affair with the Spanish marque.
The venue for the test was in true contrast to the arid terrain I had been used to and I was somewhat concerned that the Spaniards would not acclimatise well, pining for olives and balsamic vinegar. Cowdale Quarry in Buxton, deep in the peak district, would be the location for my first UK trips aboard the sisters from Spain and site of the first Extreme Eddy round of the racing season the following day.
Jon Shirt Jr supplied pre-production models of the 250 and 300cc EC Evolution series. During the previous week I had chatted to Jude of GasGas UK and was lucky enough to secure a ride on both bikes. In addition, one week prior to that conversation had seen me taking some lessons from UK enduro legend, Ady Smith, aboard a 2012 KTM 250 EXC two stroke. A good base for comparison. To be honest I was relatively smitten with the Austrian, as it had devoured everything in its path up in the Welsh hills, leaving me with some tough decisions to make, Paella or Weiner Schnitzel?
Gas Gas EC300 Evolution Series
Pulling my goggles into position before firing the EC300 into life I was a little unsure of what to expect. I had some experience of the 2008 model and found the power delivery a little flat off the bottom and lacking the searing top end hit you would expect from a big bore stroker. The first time the throttle touched the stop in the Derbyshire valley this memory was ejected from my mind like Lynsey Lohan from an AA meeting. Make no mistake, the new 300 has grunt and top end to spare. Around the relatively tight loop available it felt unruly like a true 300 should. Even with the wet map engaged it would rampage through the greasy quarry mulch, despatching any straight line in a splatter of roost. In truth, I found it too much engine given its surroundings, however, others on the day loved the fat (no ph for the kids) bottom end and happily grunted round the tight trail. With my ‘hang on tight this could get interesting’ style, I couldn’t gel with the sharp take up at the bottom end, with a smoother approach, and a more experienced hand, plenty of additional speed could have been gleaned from the bike. In addition, I struggled with what felt like a harsh suspension set up in both the front and the rear, despite being in the ball park for factory settings (80kg wet..), no doubt this could be dialled out, but I was a little surprised given the reputation for plush suspension tagged on the Gassers.
Intro
Saturday the 3rd of December, not a significant date for most but I had been slowly turning blue with baited breath waiting for it since early July.
During a recent stint in Spain, I was introduced to the world’s second most premier red and white brand, Gas Gas. So taken was I, that during my trip I was fortunate enough to become the owner of a lightly modified 2011 EC250 Racing and immediately became a fan of the non-orange nature of the beast. With a dual power map switch available as standard and a forgiving chassis shod with factory Marzocchi forks and an Ohlins 888 shock, the 2011 bike flattered and spoiled me in equal measures, while effectively offering two bikes in one (wet map for tricky trials type terrain and dry for ripping mx and trail to shreds). With a move back to the UK scheduled, I reluctantly left the GeeGee with the Leon brothers of Gas Gas dealer Sixlyon, Barcelona, took a deep breath of her two stroke scented FMF stealth pipe and jumped on a plane, left only with the promise of blasting her up a Catalunyan rock face in the not too distant future. With that memory fading, I was very keen to ride the heavily revised 2012 GasGas enduro models to rekindle my affair with the Spanish marque.
The venue for the test was in true contrast to the arid terrain I had been used to and I was somewhat concerned that the Spaniards would not acclimatise well, pining for olives and balsamic vinegar. Cowdale Quarry in Buxton, deep in the peak district, would be the location for my first UK trips aboard the sisters from Spain and site of the first Extreme Eddy round of the racing season the following day.
Jon Shirt Jr supplied pre-production models of the 250 and 300cc EC Evolution series. During the previous week I had chatted to Jude of GasGas UK and was lucky enough to secure a ride on both bikes. In addition, one week prior to that conversation had seen me taking some lessons from UK enduro legend, Ady Smith, aboard a 2012 KTM 250 EXC two stroke. A good base for comparison. To be honest I was relatively smitten with the Austrian, as it had devoured everything in its path up in the Welsh hills, leaving me with some tough decisions to make, Paella or Weiner Schnitzel?
Gas Gas EC300 Evolution Series
Pulling my goggles into position before firing the EC300 into life I was a little unsure of what to expect. I had some experience of the 2008 model and found the power delivery a little flat off the bottom and lacking the searing top end hit you would expect from a big bore stroker. The first time the throttle touched the stop in the Derbyshire valley this memory was ejected from my mind like Lynsey Lohan from an AA meeting. Make no mistake, the new 300 has grunt and top end to spare. Around the relatively tight loop available it felt unruly like a true 300 should. Even with the wet map engaged it would rampage through the greasy quarry mulch, despatching any straight line in a splatter of roost. In truth, I found it too much engine given its surroundings, however, others on the day loved the fat (no ph for the kids) bottom end and happily grunted round the tight trail. With my ‘hang on tight this could get interesting’ style, I couldn’t gel with the sharp take up at the bottom end, with a smoother approach, and a more experienced hand, plenty of additional speed could have been gleaned from the bike. In addition, I struggled with what felt like a harsh suspension set up in both the front and the rear, despite being in the ball park for factory settings (80kg wet..), no doubt this could be dialled out, but I was a little surprised given the reputation for plush suspension tagged on the Gassers. On the subject of weight, the 300 lands on the scales at a barely noticeable 102kg (e-start is available for an additional weight penalty). The weight was verified by dropping the bike several times in the interest of science (not ineptitude..). It really is a feather light machine and combining this with the centre line profile of a super model on Atkins makes the bike feel very manageable. It definitely feels narrower than the orange competition.For me, tipping in at 5’7, the ground was, touch with both feet, close. Gas Gas’ have traditionally been lower than most brands available and this year is no exception. A new sculpted seat with concave profile allows even a shorty like me to put Tech 3 to floor with ease. Handlebars are nice quality, with aluminium fat bars in a grey anodised finish, although I found the rise a little high, for taller riders the set up would work well. The rest of the package seemed roomy enough, but I don’t struggle for comfort on most enduro machines due to my successful Oompa Loompa leg transplant.
To assess handling characteristics on this model was a little difficult. Being first out on the course after a reasonable downpour left me sliding across flat, wet corners. The chassis felt sharp but neutral and would track a line well once pointed in the correct direction. Applying the power would then result in hell breaking loose around the rear wheel spindle but this can safely be attributed to rider malfunction instead of any shortcomings in the geometry package.Braking could be nicely assessed on the short circuit as Shirty had kindly provided a full throttle straight with a tightening radius corner tagged on the end. This lead into a short sharp face followed by a tight right. Full bore approaches to the face could be dealt with by clicking through the slick 6 speed box with the throttle on the stop then stomping on the excellent Nissin brakes and feathering the super light Magura clutch. No complaints in either department here, with only one finger needed to operate both controls. To provide some extra help, the bike came dressed in its best black rubber shoes, Michelin 6 days Extreme, these dealt with the conditions admirably, feeling sure footed under hard braking albeit then being somewhat overcome by the power on tap and slippery conditions.
It wasn’t all Sangria and whack the Piñata though. A couple of niggles tarnished the experience. The steering lock felt very restrictive to the point where it was tricky to balance on a couple of tight descents. Just where you would require a couple of extra degrees of steering…there was none left. This did allow me to correlate the claimed dry weight with real world testing, but was frustrating nonetheless. Some discussion after the ride revealed that others had similar issues and were also ‘checking the weight’. Fork to frame clearance appears tight, so this may be an area you have to learn to live with as it looks like the lock stops could not be reduced.To make the harsh suspension previously mentioned feel at home, the sneaky Spanish engineers seemed to have replaced the seat with some form of wood or possibly granite. This is not a significant issue when racing as seat time is relatively limited, but, if you ride steady trails or do some road work it could become uncomfortable in a hurry. As a disclaimer the bikes were box fresh and pre production, hence the suspension will bed in and the seat could be subjected to some foam density changes, my experience with the 250 later in the day shed a little light on this dark area.
Overall the 2012 EC300 felt like a well-balanced package. Admittedly for me it has too much power for my small brain to cope with. I would be relatively confident that the suspension issues I felt could be adjusted away and then you would have some competition for the orange army and their hordes of 300EXC. The Gas Gas is certainly in line for the shopping list when you consider the price (£6137 for the GG and £6595 for the KTM on the road) particularly if the electric start option proves reliable.I was that keen to like the 300 that I tried to sweet talk my way into another test with one of the Gas Gas staff on hand. Unfortunately she realised that there was little that could be done to fix my digital interpretation of throttle control and therefore promptly brought my ride on the EC250 forward a couple of hours. This little change allowed me to take my first breath in 5 months and made a difficult choice harder…
Gas Gas EC250 Evolution Series
This is what I like about the fiery Spaniard. Throttle pinned to the stop, the EC250 cuts through the top layer of quarry soil and fills in a couple of innocent spectators. In my fumbling hands the quarter litre ripper finds traction where the 300 cruelly mocked my I/0 throttle control.
Gas Gas EC250 Evolution Series
This is what I like about the fiery Spaniard. Throttle pinned to the stop, the EC250 cuts through the top layer of quarry soil and fills in a couple of innocent spectators. In my fumbling hands the quarter litre ripper finds traction where the 300 cruelly mocked my I/0 throttle control. For me, the EC250 is a much more manageable proposition than the 300. It shares the excellent brakes, light clutch action and positive shift of the big sister but allowed me to carry more speed through the turns and charge down the narrow straights in a howl of open power valve induced rpm. I was falling for the 250.
The Marzocchi forks and Sachs shock that felt harsh on the 300 seemed to take everything in their stride. A short rock section was dispatched in a manner that Parcel Force would be proud of, the suspension making the geology feel fun to slice through rather than a slippery worry. With the throttle wide open, where it felt best, the little Gasser would rail down the narrow rock littered trail. On the 300 this seemed like traction roulette with red and black equalling fence or tree. The 250 tracked straight and true. I even managed not to run, Enduro Extreme editor, John over as I tried to make my fastest face for his camera. It turns out my fast face isn’t that quick and he can sprint when he needs to.
It’s easy to tell that straight away I was feeling much more at home on the 250. The ergonomics even seemed to have improved, but the bars appeared identical and the peg to seat relationship is the same. The mind is a crazy thing…The engine does have a similar feel to the 300, with a lazier bottom end compared to the equivalent KTM, but this makes it more manageable in the slippery conditions. For my riding the 250 would let me get into the meat of its power, where things start to get blurry, with out being intimidating like the 300. Despite the track bedding in with use, my heart beat stopwatch clocked me as calmer and probably quicker on the 250. I certainly experienced less arm pump as the ‘little’ bike wasn’t trying to make me play human buckaroo at every opportunity, despite my best attempts.
Fortunately for me it appeared that on the 250 the suspension and seat had either bedded in (mid morning session) or were running a different setting. It’s possible that the factory are running softer springs in the 250 or reduced compression damping, but this info wasn’t available on the day. What is evident is that in this guise the bike works and works really well. The extra cherry on top is that the Gas Gas is now a stunning bike in all guises. The 2011 model was no school disco leftover, but the latest offering is quite special. It wears its corporate red very well and flashes a little bit of new technology to the watching eyes of the genre. Fresh for this model are one piece plastics contributing to the narrow feel, in built under seat grab handles and a new plastic sub-frame come airbox. There have been some issues with this component that have caused delays to production but bikes will be trundling down the line in a months time so we can assume these problems have been solved. The air filter uses cartridge technology, allegedly borrowed from Nascar. This doesn’t really explain why both motors are potent, but it does allow easy access to change filters mid race or in the garage without removing the seat. Time will tell how the new airbox and sub-frame work out, but next year Cervantes, Nambotin and Figueras will be putting the new bikes through their paces, so inevitably competition will work out any niggles.
As I make no secret that I am slightly enamoured with the Gas Gas, it may come as a surprise to learn that I would still consider the Weiner Schnitzel 250 as a potential purchase. However it is testament to the quality of the Gasser that it would take a back-to-back test to truly split the models. From memory the KTM would take it for ergonomics, with the Spaniard being lighter, more manageable and arguably a livelier ride. When you bring costs into the equation, £5887 for the EC and £6395 for the KTM on the road, things get more difficult. A lower price with an equivalent spec and change to swap the bars? How about putting a proper torque wrench in the works by considering the, soon to be available, EC 250 racing model? £100 more expensive than the KTM but with Ohlins in the back, Marzocchi closed cartridge front forks, Talon rear sprocket, Renthal twin wall bars and even more jaw dropping decals than the series model. It’s going to be a good Christmas!Verdict
Travelling to this test I was nervous for GasGas. The Spanish economy is in a precarious position at present, with the motorcycle industry globally tottering on the edge of a cutting instrument. I needn’t have worried. Despite substantial revisions to the enduro models, including front and rear frames, both bikes retain the familiar Gas Gas feel. The engines are punchy, and despite the 300 being tricky for me to use in the conditions, fans of 300s were overheard praising the usability of the power plant. The chassis’ are a strong point, particularly the out of the box suspension on the small machine and the bikes rabid but approachable nature.It’s clear that my favourite was the 250, it is certainly a competitor for the KTM I sampled in the Welsh countryside but with advantages in weight and cost. When I grow up a bit I’ll come and have another look at the 300. In my opinion the screaming 250 is a very convincing argument for raiding the piggy bank and giving Spain’s economy a welcome boost while escaping the heard of orange sheep invading the UK enduro scene. If you want to roost them into the weeds slideways, the 300 is an option.Sorry piggy, pass the hammer I want some Paella..
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Bike Racing - Triumph Triple Challenge Round 3
Bike Racing, or more specifically circuit racing , will be one of the regular features on here. For 2010 the scene is the Triumph Triple Challenge (www.triumphtriplechallenge.com), a one make series for the Triumph Daytona 675. TV coverage is included, so expect chaos on Motors TV sometime soon!
Racing news so far from this season is as follows:
Round 3 - Silverstone
Round 3 of the 2010 Triumph Triple Challenge saw us head to the newly revamped Silverstone National circuit, a mere 30mins drive from my house. Far too logistically simple I decided, so on the Thursday evening before the race, fellow Chaos Crew member Westy was cajoled into entering the rookie 600’s on another Triumph 675. This meant we got to spend Thursday night preparing that for racing, to avoid things being too simple and well planned on Friday.
The new track layout loses the fiddly old chicane onto the start finish straight that has been the subject of so much grizzling from riders since it’s addition and replaces it with an altogether different beast. Now the lap is ended with a flat out, 6th gear monster kink with a narrow bumpy kerb being the only sliver of hope before you get the important lesson about why grass track bikes use knobbly tyres. That is, of course, providing you survive the mysterious patches of tarmac at the apex, or the comedy bumps right on the exit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an improvement on the chicane and an awesome bend, but picture this – you’ve just run wide at a 130-odd mph bend having made a 6 inch miscalculation entering the corner. Instead of a nice, forgiving tarmac run-off to bail onto, you skip straight across the flat kerb onto a strip of grass, put there to stop the tin boxes (cars) using the extra tarmac. Having survived the crash, you crawl to your feet and squint into the distance where, right at the other end of the straight, the closest marshals are trying to see through the dust whether you’ve walked to safety or not. I quote “there are no marshals along that stretch of track, as it is too dangerous to send them out there without a red flag...”. How many laps before Moto2 is red flagged at next weekend’s Moto GP? Place your bets now!
Friday’s testing was fairly straightforward, just set the gearing and got myself used to the new circuit.
Saturday morning, all was going well right up until a few laps into second qualifying when my bike, presumably suffering from some breakdown in it’s nervous system, started shaking it’s head more violently than a five year old who’s just been asked if they’d like to swap their bag of sweets for a plate of broccoli. In a not-very-brave-at-all manner I held on for the length of the back straight until, when this wasn’t helping, I let go of the bars and things settled down. And relax. Oh, now there’s no brakes, panic again. By the time I got back to the pits I was a nervous wreck, and we initiated head scratching procedures to get to the root of the problem. Turns out the rear shock was staying compressed due to too much rebound damping. We wound the damping off and thought we were safe…
Race 1, not particularly eventful but I was pleased with 2nd considering the woes of qualifying. I definitely didn’t get overexcited and pull wheelies on the warm down lap and certainly didn’t get pulled up in front of the clerk of the course for a ticking off about stoppies in pit lane. Oops.
Race 2 got off to a clumsy start, with people all riding into each other into turn 1 allowing Jimmy Dye and Phil Atkinson to make a break for it. Once through the melee I pushed hard to catch them, but the race was cut short by Tommy Dale’s huge crash. In the second part of the race I managed to get away with Phil and Jimmy, but as soon as I got in the lead, the bike got all nervous and wobbly again, putting me on the grass coming out of the first turn. Faced with 3 options – jump off and risk the bike hitting Jimmy and/or Phil, find the reset button or pin it flat out across the grass to get across the hairpin before Jimmy and Phil get there. Unable to find said reset button and reluctant to get off, I held it flat out and hoped for the best! Luck was on my side as I bounced across the front of Jimmy with only about 6ft to spare, gulp new trousers please. Again. Once more, on inspection in the pits, the rear shock had inexplicably increased its rebound damping to a spoon in treacle levels of restriction!
Once I’d finished gibbering and whimpering in the corner of the garage, we stuck a loaned shock in the bike (thanks Miss Waddelow!) and headed out for the final race of the weekend. 11 laps of elbow bashing and pulling faces side by side down the straights later and I finally took my first win of the season, albeit by a narrow margin, woohoo!
Just two weeks until round 4 at Mallory Park and lots of suspension investigation to be done by then. Thanks to Steve Jordan for helping sort the suspension woes over the weekend, Kirsty for catering services, Rich, Clive and Bruv for keeping the bike together, Destination Triumph for supplying the bike and Hel for all their support.
Finally, an apology for the lack of race report from the first two rounds – I ran out of time after the first round (poor excuse I know) and then suffered a massive sense of humour failure when the bill from my crashes at round two landed on my doorstep. I would have tried to write something, but as my head was stuck in a bucket of sand pretending the bill didn’t exist I was unable to operate my laptop. To make up for it, here are the details in brief:
Round 1 - Oulton Park
- Arrive
- Tent small, get laughed at
- Meet Chad Hashmi, good bloke
- Westy turns up and makes me eat properly, good bloke
- Westy helps with bike setup, good bloke
- Sleep
- Race, lots of overtaking, some 100mph grass, come second
- Get overexcited, ride onto grass again on warm down lap, get laughed at
- Race again, many oil on track, more grass, come third
Round 2 – Pembrey
- Long journey, van tyre almost bald, get lost in Llanelli, arrive and squat in Steve Jordan’s awning, remain for whole weekend. Thanks Steve!
- Get rained on before practice, then remember how good Pembrey cafe is
- Finish drinking tea, do some testing, return to old friends PG and Tetley
- Crash in qualifying at 2nd fastest bend, estimate 90mph crash, grows to about 120mph in bar that night.
- Race, follow Jimmy for whole race, admire how good back of 675 looks.
- Sleep
- Race, get sick of looking at back of 675, push harder only for strange instability of bike (see Silverstone) to cause front to wash at fastest corner
- Keep throttle wide open until you can actually taste grass, then concede defeat and admit a crash.
- Run around like a looney looking for money to repair bike
- Repair bike
- Race, bike obviously in a sulk about the crashes keeps flapping it’s bars and refusing to go where asked.
- Settle for another 2nd.
See y’all at Mallory
Chris Northover
#13 Triumph Triple Challenge
chris_northover_racer(at)hotmail.com
www.cgracing.co.uk
Racing news so far from this season is as follows:
Round 3 - Silverstone
Round 3 of the 2010 Triumph Triple Challenge saw us head to the newly revamped Silverstone National circuit, a mere 30mins drive from my house. Far too logistically simple I decided, so on the Thursday evening before the race, fellow Chaos Crew member Westy was cajoled into entering the rookie 600’s on another Triumph 675. This meant we got to spend Thursday night preparing that for racing, to avoid things being too simple and well planned on Friday.
The new track layout loses the fiddly old chicane onto the start finish straight that has been the subject of so much grizzling from riders since it’s addition and replaces it with an altogether different beast. Now the lap is ended with a flat out, 6th gear monster kink with a narrow bumpy kerb being the only sliver of hope before you get the important lesson about why grass track bikes use knobbly tyres. That is, of course, providing you survive the mysterious patches of tarmac at the apex, or the comedy bumps right on the exit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an improvement on the chicane and an awesome bend, but picture this – you’ve just run wide at a 130-odd mph bend having made a 6 inch miscalculation entering the corner. Instead of a nice, forgiving tarmac run-off to bail onto, you skip straight across the flat kerb onto a strip of grass, put there to stop the tin boxes (cars) using the extra tarmac. Having survived the crash, you crawl to your feet and squint into the distance where, right at the other end of the straight, the closest marshals are trying to see through the dust whether you’ve walked to safety or not. I quote “there are no marshals along that stretch of track, as it is too dangerous to send them out there without a red flag...”. How many laps before Moto2 is red flagged at next weekend’s Moto GP? Place your bets now!
Friday’s testing was fairly straightforward, just set the gearing and got myself used to the new circuit.
Saturday morning, all was going well right up until a few laps into second qualifying when my bike, presumably suffering from some breakdown in it’s nervous system, started shaking it’s head more violently than a five year old who’s just been asked if they’d like to swap their bag of sweets for a plate of broccoli. In a not-very-brave-at-all manner I held on for the length of the back straight until, when this wasn’t helping, I let go of the bars and things settled down. And relax. Oh, now there’s no brakes, panic again. By the time I got back to the pits I was a nervous wreck, and we initiated head scratching procedures to get to the root of the problem. Turns out the rear shock was staying compressed due to too much rebound damping. We wound the damping off and thought we were safe…
Race 1, not particularly eventful but I was pleased with 2nd considering the woes of qualifying. I definitely didn’t get overexcited and pull wheelies on the warm down lap and certainly didn’t get pulled up in front of the clerk of the course for a ticking off about stoppies in pit lane. Oops.
Race 2 got off to a clumsy start, with people all riding into each other into turn 1 allowing Jimmy Dye and Phil Atkinson to make a break for it. Once through the melee I pushed hard to catch them, but the race was cut short by Tommy Dale’s huge crash. In the second part of the race I managed to get away with Phil and Jimmy, but as soon as I got in the lead, the bike got all nervous and wobbly again, putting me on the grass coming out of the first turn. Faced with 3 options – jump off and risk the bike hitting Jimmy and/or Phil, find the reset button or pin it flat out across the grass to get across the hairpin before Jimmy and Phil get there. Unable to find said reset button and reluctant to get off, I held it flat out and hoped for the best! Luck was on my side as I bounced across the front of Jimmy with only about 6ft to spare, gulp new trousers please. Again. Once more, on inspection in the pits, the rear shock had inexplicably increased its rebound damping to a spoon in treacle levels of restriction!
Once I’d finished gibbering and whimpering in the corner of the garage, we stuck a loaned shock in the bike (thanks Miss Waddelow!) and headed out for the final race of the weekend. 11 laps of elbow bashing and pulling faces side by side down the straights later and I finally took my first win of the season, albeit by a narrow margin, woohoo!
Just two weeks until round 4 at Mallory Park and lots of suspension investigation to be done by then. Thanks to Steve Jordan for helping sort the suspension woes over the weekend, Kirsty for catering services, Rich, Clive and Bruv for keeping the bike together, Destination Triumph for supplying the bike and Hel for all their support.
Finally, an apology for the lack of race report from the first two rounds – I ran out of time after the first round (poor excuse I know) and then suffered a massive sense of humour failure when the bill from my crashes at round two landed on my doorstep. I would have tried to write something, but as my head was stuck in a bucket of sand pretending the bill didn’t exist I was unable to operate my laptop. To make up for it, here are the details in brief:
Round 1 - Oulton Park
- Arrive
- Tent small, get laughed at
- Meet Chad Hashmi, good bloke
- Westy turns up and makes me eat properly, good bloke
- Westy helps with bike setup, good bloke
- Sleep
- Race, lots of overtaking, some 100mph grass, come second
- Get overexcited, ride onto grass again on warm down lap, get laughed at
- Race again, many oil on track, more grass, come third
Round 2 – Pembrey
- Long journey, van tyre almost bald, get lost in Llanelli, arrive and squat in Steve Jordan’s awning, remain for whole weekend. Thanks Steve!
- Get rained on before practice, then remember how good Pembrey cafe is
- Finish drinking tea, do some testing, return to old friends PG and Tetley
- Crash in qualifying at 2nd fastest bend, estimate 90mph crash, grows to about 120mph in bar that night.
- Race, follow Jimmy for whole race, admire how good back of 675 looks.
- Sleep
- Race, get sick of looking at back of 675, push harder only for strange instability of bike (see Silverstone) to cause front to wash at fastest corner
- Keep throttle wide open until you can actually taste grass, then concede defeat and admit a crash.
- Run around like a looney looking for money to repair bike
- Repair bike
- Race, bike obviously in a sulk about the crashes keeps flapping it’s bars and refusing to go where asked.
- Settle for another 2nd.
See y’all at Mallory
Chris Northover
#13 Triumph Triple Challenge
chris_northover_racer(at)hotmail.com
www.cgracing.co.uk
Welcome to Chaos
Good afternoon and welcome to the Chaos Crew.........fullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll booooooooooooooootttttttttttttttttttttttt!
This is a new project to document the trials and tribulations of having minimum regard for your own safety, a penchant for doing stupid things, a liking for items that go braaaaaaaaapppp, or zinnnnngggggg, zinggggg, waaaaaaaaahrrrrpppp and the misfortune to have confused our intentions with our abilities.
Over the following year the blog will follow the progress of our house trained racer CG (aka Chaos), dirt jumper/mtb hound Stevie Danger and all round, easily encouraged, often overcommitted, jack of a couple of trades, Westy.
Welcome to Chaos. Enjoy the trip.
This is a new project to document the trials and tribulations of having minimum regard for your own safety, a penchant for doing stupid things, a liking for items that go braaaaaaaaapppp, or zinnnnngggggg, zinggggg, waaaaaaaaahrrrrpppp and the misfortune to have confused our intentions with our abilities.
Over the following year the blog will follow the progress of our house trained racer CG (aka Chaos), dirt jumper/mtb hound Stevie Danger and all round, easily encouraged, often overcommitted, jack of a couple of trades, Westy.
Welcome to Chaos. Enjoy the trip.
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